As West Ham United host Chelsea FC tomorrow night it’ll be a London derby that matches up two sides headed in very different directions right now.
Both are fighting to stay above a certain critical cut-off point in the table, but the visitors are much more secure in remaining above that all important threshhold than the hosts.
West Ham need every point they can get in order to not have to sweat about relegation, but more at least accommodating fixtures than this soon await. This will be a difficult match-up for them as Chelsea are in fine form right now.
Blues boss Frank Lampard does have some limitations as to his selection today though. Fikayo Tomori and Callum Hudson-Odoi could be in the matchday squad as they look to rebuild their match fitness after picking up injuries in the build-up to Project Restart.
Don’t expect either to be in the first team though. Same for winger Christian Pulisic, who has been on an absolute tear since the restart. He is a doubt for this one, as is central defender Andreas Christensen.
Chelsea FC Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3): Kepa Arrizabalaga, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kurt Zouma, Antonio Rudiger, Marcos Alonso, Mateo Kovacic, N’Golo Kante, Mason Mount, Willian, Tammy Abraham, Ruben Loftus-Cheek
West Ham United Starting XI Prediction (4-3-3): Lukasz Fabianski, Ryan Fredricks, Fabian Balbuena, Issa Diop, Aaron Cresswell, Mark Noble, Declan Rice, Tomas Soucek, Felipe Anderson, Michail Antonio, Pablo Fornals
Chelsea FC at West Ham United FYIs
Team News for both sides: go to this link
Kickoff: July 1, 8:15 pm, London Stadium
Form Guide: Chelsea WWWWW West Ham United LLLWL
Starting XI Predictions: coming shortly
Key Stat: Leicester are +16 on Chelsea in goal differential for the season, but only one point ahead of the Blues in the standings. The Blues certainly won’t be winning any tie-breakers over the Foxes this season, but current momentum makes it feel like the fourth place side will soon be leapfrogging the current third place dwellers.
Position: Chelsea are fourth, up two points and with a game in hand on fifth place Wolverhampton Wanderers. West Ham are 17th, the final safety position, but only via tie-breaker. The Irons are level on points with the drop zone.
Prediction: Chelsea 3, West Ham United 0
Seeing the kind of form that the Blues have been in lately, the way that Pulisic and company carved up the powerhouse that is Manchester City, you can’t pick against them here.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
You can follow Banks, a former writer for Chicago Tribune.com, on Twitter and his cat on Instagram.